Crossroads: Matisyahu in Detroit

There is no doubt that, as the lead off song for his new album and last nights concert suggests, Matisyahu is at a crossroads. He's shed the visible trappings of Chassidus and Orthodoxy, losing a lot of fans in those communities in the process.  He's also continuing to make some of the most soulful, spiritual, and without a doubt Jewish, pop music made in the US in decades, bringing in new fans with each album and tour. His concert in Detroit last night, to an adoring packed house at Detorit's Fillmore Theater, showcased many of the challenges he's facing at this point in his career.

Four years ago, also at the Fillmore, I attended my first Matis concert. The audience was about half full and was one of the most diverse crowds I'd ever seen. They were in jeans and t-shirts, in black hats or modest skirts, over 60, and under 10. Some clearly, visibly Jewish. Many not so clearly or not at all.  The two years that followed were much the same. Though the shows moved to the sauna-hot St. Andrews around the corner, the crowds were mixed and enthusiastic. Each year the crowds were a bit bigger and a bit more enthusiastic. This year, Matis' first Detroit appearance since shaving his beard, the concert was back at the Fillmore. The hall was packed and crowd was far less mixed. I still saw some kids, but didn't see a single black hat or visible yarmulke.

So did he sell out to bring in more fans, as some have charged? Is he continuing on his own religious exploration as he claims? I went to the show, having spent the last week listening to his new album Spark Seeker, hoping to find out. How would this album and show compare? Would this be the same Matisyahu, who's music has meant so much to so many?

My answer is mostly yes, though also no in a surprising way. First the yes. Sitting up in the mezzanine (if you look carefully at the fantastic stage diving picture above, you can see my wife's elbows all akimbo holding binoculars right above Matis' right knee), I closed my eyes and attempted, as Matis has suggested, to "dream awake." And he makes it easy. His rich voice and his uplifting image-laden lyrics were warm and familiar. His new songs blended well with his old favorites (fans will always argue if the new album is as good as the last. I say it doesn't have a single as catchy as One Day or Miracle and doesn't have any tracks that have grabbed me like the amazing Shattered ep from two years go, but it's pretty darn good).  He still called for Moshiach Now! in King without a Crown. He still exhorted me to be better, still pushed me love God, man, and myself better, and still gave me a room filled with people with whom to sing. So yes. Matisyahu is still Matisyahu, visible Jewish beard and jacket aside.

But there was one unexpected no. There was something that Matisyahu's beard and jacket gave him that he lacked last night and that's gravitas. Strictly from a theatric performance point of view, Matis' Chassidic garb set him apart from his audience and peers in a manner that suggested age, wisdom, and authority. It's arguable that this association was misplaced, a jacket and a beard do not earn the wearer any of those attributes nor do all those of age, wisdom, and authority look like a Chassidic Rebbe. But the association was real. And seeing Matis on bouncing around stage in a white t-shirt, jean jacket, stylish hair and sunglasses lessened that gravitas in a real way. With my eyes closed, I dreamed awake. With them open, I was at a very good rock concert.

So to those who now dismiss Matis as having sold out or, perversely view his previous persona as merely a shtick, you're deeply wrong and need to get over your own preconceptions. But as wonderful as last nights show was, for me there was something a bit less about it.  Maybe I need to get over my preconceptions too. Or maybe Matis, having reached this crossroad needs to find a new path where he can be true to himself but retain the gravitas that his vision and music demands.

Matisyahu - Crossroads (feat. J. Ralph)

Update: John Wofford, writing for New Voices, the National Jewish Student Magazine, reviewed Matisyahu's Aug 4, Grand Rapids, Michigan concert.  I think John and I mostly agree, though he didn't have the same feeling of loss of gravitas that I did. 

Moshe Hecht's New Video

Moshe Hecht, a Hasidic rocker with a radio friendly 90's college rock sound, dropped his debut album last fall.  I blogged about its first single, Lamplighters, briefly when it first came out. Half a year later, and a brand new video for the album's lead track "Believers" is out.  The video seems to be based on a live concert recording from the Knitting Factory.  Based on the video, I can see Hecht picking up a lot of Blue Fringe fans.

Check it out...

Moshe Hecht - Believers

You can grab the debut album and the live recording of Believers from a variety of places including Mostly Music. For the price of your email address for his mailing list, you can get the rest of the Knitting Factory concert (without Believers) at Hecht's website.

#NoseJobGate - The Groggers and Plastic Surgery Disasters

Ah, nose jobs. I remember being a teen and having my grandfather promise me that if I ever wanted a nose job he'd pay for it. Huh? I remember thinking. Why on earth would I want that? Now my brother...he's got serious beak.... It's not just my grandfather, though. Our collective self-consciousnesses about our over-sized honkers comes up regularly in both self-deprecating jokes and in trips to the plastic surgeon. Occasionally, it even bubbles over into the mainstream culture. Maybe it's a way to identify (and identify with) the outsider in last spring's episode of Glee, for example, or to make unexpected (and awkward) connections between actress Halle Berry, her Jewish cousin, and the viewing audience of the Tonight show back in 2007.

Mostly the whole idea is about as cliche and tacky as JAP (Jewish American Princess) or circumcision jokes. (Didja hear the one about the.....)

This week's entry into the Nose Job hall of fame is "Jewcan Sam (A Nosejob Love Song)" by The Groggers. The song, which has now been viewed over 120,000 times, is a funny guy-wants-girl power-pop joke-fest. Get your nose circumcised. Pinocchio never got Snow White. Funny stuff from a band known for sharp humor. (See my previous post on The Groggers)

Here's the song.

"Jewcan Sam" (A Nose Job Love Song) - The Groggers [Official Music Video]



And then it hit the press. I saw it first on the ABC News website under the banner "Miami Plastic Surgeon Under Investigation After Commissioning 'Jewcan Sam' Music Video." For real? How did ABC even hear the song. The Groggers are a relatively unknown (though talented) Orthodox Jewish rock band. But then it came clear...the nose job song and video were paid for by an Orthodox Jewish plastic surgeon in Florida. And hence the scandal. This is, the news narrative states, payola for promotion of plastic surgery to teens. And then the scandal deepened. The leader of the Groggers actually got a nose job himself as part of the deal. This has all the makings for a media feeding frenzy.

The Miami Herald, NBC, the Sun-Sentinal, UPI, and the Huffington Post all weighed in. So did the UK's Daily Mail and Jewish outlets The JTA, The Forward, and Shalom Live. Even the industry site OutpatientSurgery.Com commented. (And to get really meta, I'm writing this post about it citing all those other rags).

And then Groggers band leader Doug Staiman did a great radio interview capitalizing on the whole affair on 107.2 FM.

The verdict so far? The plastic surgeon involved may have violated ethics rules in funding the video. The band may have violated good taste and judgement by taking the funding. The song is pretty darn good and pretty darn ambiguous as to its stance on Jewish nose jobs. Which is all just fine with me. The Groggers are notorious for writing funny songs that tweak the Jewish community. Have at it boys.

Mikey Pauker on IndiGogo, Wisaal & Max Chaiken on Kickstarter

Here are few more Jewish music related bands going the IndioGoGo and Kickstarter advance sales route. Check 'em out

Mikey Pauker
My buddy, Mikey is in Israel studying and making music. He's been invited to play mainstage at the Jacob's Ladder Festival, a 5,000+ attendance folk, bluegrass and world music festival in Israel. This is a really big deal. But doing this messes up his booked flights. So he's asking for help and selling his CDs to raise funds to get him home. Here's the IndiGoGo link. Here's Mikey's website and facebook page.

Help Mikey Pauker play Jacob's Ladder Festival (and get home again!)



Wisaal
Next up is Wisaal, from Michigan. According to their bio, "Wisaal - An Arabic word meaning links, connections, or unities - reflects our attempt to fuse elements of the Arabic musical heritage with Klezmer, Indian and American influences while resection the spirit of these traditions." Wisaal is raising funds / doing advance sales for their debut album. Here's their kickstarter page, facebook page and website.

Wisaal Recording Project


Max Chaiken
Last up is the Max Chaiken Band, from Boston. According to his bio, "For nearly 10 years, Max has been song leading and writing original, contemporary Jewish music. He served as the Head Song Leader at the URJ Camp Harlam from 2004 through 2009, and currently serves as the Head Song Leader at the URJ Kutz Camp." Their raising funds / doing advance sales for their debut album "All That Breathes" Here's their kickstarter page, their facebook page, and their website.

Honestly, Max's Kickstarter video is boring (boring = no music). So here's Max doing a lovely job putting Psalm 150 to the chords of Leonard Cohen's classic Halleluyah. I just heard the high school choir at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor sing this recently.

Psalm 150 to Leonard Cohen's Halleluyah

The Heartsleves Haman: A latin rock drash

The Boston based Heartsleeves is another next-gen hybrid band, playing rock club stages but including occasional songs with explicitly Jewish content or references. Their Purim song, Haman, off their new album Peripheral People isn't the first I've heard (That would be their identity politics romp "Son of Lenny Bruce"). But it's great, a Latin rock bump-up with some nice sax work. The lyrics are a terse and fairly pedestrian retelling of the megillah, but the chorus "Give me the power to protect myself" is really interesting. It's a nice drash on the controversial end of the megillah where the decree allowing the Jews to be attacked isn't lifted, but a second decree is given allowing the Jews to fight back. The controversy is that many Jews don't like the image of Jews killing anyone (including Haman's sons) in retribution and claiming booty for the violence. It's also a nice drash on the classic megillah question regarding the presence / absence of God in the account. Haman's chorus offers a succinct answer to both ... God is present in the story and the climax of the story is God giving/renewing the Jews ability to defend themselves. In that way, the story becomes a prologue for nationalistic / militaristic aspects of Chanukah and modern "Jewish self-defense" ideas that emerged under Zionism. (Which I'll be discussing later this week when I write about the Chicago based punk/industrial project Hadar.)

Not bad for a 6 word rock chorus.

Haman (Purim Song) - The HeartSleeves

For more info on the Heartsleeves, check out their website, Facebook, or BandCamp pages or follow them on Twitter.

Eden and Prodezra Beats rock Chanukah

Last Friday, the Shades of Grey blog put up a nice post about the Brookly based Jewish rock trio Eden. I was going to post the Eden track "Yigdal" that SoG put up, but you can check it out here.

Instead I'm going put up my first Chanukah video of the season. It's only a few weeks away now. The video's got Eden backing the Savannah Georgia rapper Prodezra Beats at the Square 2010 festival in Charleston, SC last year. I dig Prodezra and it's great to see him backed by a live band. I love the classic heavy heavy bass guitar and the stratospheric guitar behind the rap. Would love to see them live.

Hinei Ma Tov/Come Clean with Prodezra



Proderzra Beats and Eden both have new tracks out. (well, new for me) I love Prodezra's production skills more than his rhymes but Connection Revealed is solid and worth checking out. I particularly dig "Wake Up, Rise."

Eden 's "Knock at the Door" came out last year, though it's not clear how to buy it. You can check out the tracks on myspace.

Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart on recording a klezmer in a gym

Ok, it's way too short but this video of Mickey Hart describing recording a klezmer band is a hoot. Mickey Hart is a world-class percussionist, both as a member of the Grateful Dead and through a variety of performance and recording projects.

The album, The Golden Gate Gypsy Orchestra's "The Traveling Jewish Wedding," was released back in 1980 and was just re-released on Smithsonian Folkways as part of the Mickey Hart collection. It's a fine early klezmer revival recording and is actually one of the one of the first klezmer album's I owned. It's loaded with fine, though not outstanding, cimbalom, violin, and folkie vocals and in true klezmer revival form it's regionally omnivorous and indiscriminate. It including traditional Yiddisn and klezmer tunes, Sephardic tunes, and one or two that sound very influenced by Israeli folk music. Great stuff.

I had no idea, though, that Mickey Hart recorded it. Guess I didn't read the liner notes on that one.

Mickey and Fred on Recording Golden Gate Gypsy Orchestra


While the Golden Gate Gypsy Orchestra is no more, if you happen to be in Hawaii GGSO's Barry and Gloria Blum would be happy to perform at your wedding, bar mitzvah or bris.

Serge Gainsbourg. A Heroic Life

Serge Gainsbourg was a highly influential French singer-songwriter, actor, director. He was Jewish, the children of Russian Jewish parents, and his extensive discography includes a darkly comic rock album called "Rock around the Bunker" about Nazism that was influenced by his experiences wearing a yellow star and hiding from the Nazi and Vichy governments.

A new film about Gainsbourg was just released. The film, called "Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life" was directed by Joann Sfar, one of my favorite comic book artists. Sfar, himself, is also French, Jewish and known for incorporating Jewish themes and ideas into his work (see The Rabbi's Cat, The Rabbi's Cat 2, and Klezmer: Tales of the Wild East.)

I can't wait to see this. It looks great.

Here's the official blurb and trailer.

Taking the best from LA VIE EN ROSE and AMÉLIE, renowned comic book artist Joann Sfar’s GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE is a completely original take on one of France’s greatest mavericks, the illustrious and infamous Jewish singer-songwriter, Serge Gainsbourg (Eric Elmosnino). Born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish parents, Sfar follows him from his precocious childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, to his beginnings as small time jazz musician and finally pop superstar. Along the way he romances many of the era’s most beautiful women, including Juliette Greco (Anna Mouglalis), Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta) and Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon). Employing a witty surrealistic style and a soundtrack that includes many of the musician’s greatest hits, GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE is a quintessential time capsule to ‘60’s Paris.

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life - Official US Trailer

For more info on the film and a listing of theaters, check out the Music Box Films website.

I'm currently bouncing back and forth between cranking up some Gainsbourg tunes and some covers from the "Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg" album put out by John Zorn's Tzadik: Radical Jewish Culture label. The album includes covers by John Zorn, Fred Firth, Marc Ribot, Cibo Matto, Elysian Fields, Kramer, Franz Treichler (of the Young Gods), Blonde Redhead and others. I don't have a copy of Rock around the Bunker but I'm hot on it's trail.

Black Ox Orkestar

Emerging from the vibrant Canadian art-rock music scene of the early 2000's, Black Ox Orkestar released two albums, Ver Tanzt? and Nisht Azoy (Not Like This) of contemporary Jewish music that are dark, haunting and intense. The albums clearly draw on Askenazi Jewish roots, with evocations to klezmer, cantorial and Yiddish folk motifs. The albums draw on contemporary jazz, folk, and art-rock influences as well, but without the 'aren't we clever and eclectic' feel that often mars musical hybrids. These albums are on a short list of my favorites, both for their musical depth and for their ability to evoke, for a few moments, a world where new Jewish culture thrived and renewed itself instead of degenerating into apathy, nostalgia, or pastiche.

Nisht Azoy
Nisht Azoy - BLACK OX ORKESTAR by Constellation Records

Here's the Orkestar's official blurb. Gotta love the phrase "Anchored to tradition without being suffocated by it." Exactly. We need more of that.

"The second record by Montreal’s Black Ox Orkestar placed the group at the forefront of a ‘new Jewish music’ that rejected contemporary fusion and musty nostalgia in equal measure. With backgrounds in folk, punk-rock and free jazz, the group’s four musicians distilled Balkan, Central Asian, Arabic and Slavic sources into a coherent, impassioned sound that gave teeth to old Jewish songs. Never relying on museum-piece reverence or an obvious, forced collision of musical forms, Black Ox rewrote a Yiddish songbook in ways that sound organically anchored to tradition without being suffocated by it."

End of JDub. What's next for New Jewish Culture

The news broke about a week ago. JDub, the not-for-profit hipster Jewish music, is shutting down. Zeek has more info and an excellent summary of the state of "New Jewish Culture." This is a sad day, without a doubt, but not unexpected. I've heard lots of rumblings about JDub for a while now, they've had money problems, questionable management, maybe a bit overreaching in projects. Sounds like a typical not-for-profit, right? But they'll be missed. They were a focal point for folks like me to point to when trying to get people excited about New Jewish Culture.

But just because the organization is folding up doesn't mean the bands are going away, the fans are going home, or the enthusiasm is diminishing. It's more a question of what kind of organizations are needed and what kinds of business models work. So what comes next? Should someone else try to make a go of a Jewish label? Does the New Jewish Culture scene need record labels? And if so, for what? A&R and advance funding on recording (audio and video)? Public relations & marketing? Band management and tour management? Album distribution?

What about on the fan side? I've been expecting that someone will start a slick and stylish Pitchfork style website with a wide vision of Jewish music. There's finally a decent online radio station in Jewish Rock Radio. But it's pretty narrowly focused. There's an "International Jewish Presenters Association" but it doesn't seem to be particularly active. Shemspeed is still turning out great music, mostly hip-hop. There is, of course, the always active Orthodox & Chassidic scene, but they don't make much effort to reach outside their primary audience. (And, yeah, I'm still doing Teruah).

So what's next? Not sure. But, to paraphrase a recent tweet from the klezmer-punk band Golem....exciting new Jewish music was happening before JDub and it will continue to happen after JDub. But JDub will be missed.

So...here's a quick blast from one of my favorite current JDub groups...Girls in Trouble. I've raved about GiT before and will continue to do so, led by Alicia Jo Rabins, Git is somewhere between the next Regina Spektor and the next Debbie Friedman. And I don't take either comparison lightly. Who's going to help me champion GiT and all the other new Jewish bands out there?

Girls In Trouble - We Are Androgynous

Reb Yosil Rosenzweig - Still rocking and davening

You want to hear a track that rocked my world recently? Press play.



Now go read the story.

Wow. What an wonderfully simple, wonderfully intense recording and an immediate add to my playlist.

So who rocked my world? Reb. Yosil Rosenweig, my (handsome and modest) pal Benji's dad, and long time Jewish music fixture. I want to say icon, but can't quite. Reb. Yosil has written songs and made music with two of the most important folks in Jewish music in the 20th century; Chassidic rabbi and folk singer Shlomo Carlebach and Avraham Rosenblum, founder of the Diaspora Yeshiva band, the seminal Israeli Jewish rock group. But he, himself, never rose to the icon status of Carlebach or Rosenblum. But, icon or not, Reb Yosil has been making great Jewish music for a long time. And as evidenced by the track above, he's still doing it as well as anyone.

About a year ago Reb Yosil released Pitchu Li, his first solo album. It's a recording of Reb Yosil with his Kosher Gravy Company live in concert, with Reb Yosil telling stories, giving Torah, and singing some of his many songs. He's backed by a fine, bluesy jam-band. Doing a more detailed review of the album had been on my to do list for a while (sorry Benji), but I'd had trouble getting started. I'm not much of a fan of fine, bluesy jam-bands. Just not my style. And Reb Yosil's voice is a bit rough in spots. I bet I would have loved the show... but the album? Good, but not great.

But then I heard Reb Yosil's Rosh Chodesh recordings. Particularly the Mah Ne'Daber. And I was hooked. There's a fire to his solo recordings that I didn't get from Pitchu Li. Mah Ne'Daber is incandescent. I now look forward every month to his next Rosh Chodesh song. They're offered monthly for free download. If you've missed them, go get them. Or wait a couple weeks. Pretty soon they're going to get bundled up as Reb Yosil's next album. It'll be a great collection. Then he'll start the process over with a bunch of new songs, one per month.

I got the chance to sit down recently with Reb Yosil and hear a bit of his life story. I was really interested in finding out more about his relationship with Carlebach and Rosenblum and, given his obvious talent, why he ended up in their shadows. And why the new recordings now after all this time? The answer revolves around the life of a Canadian pulpit rabbi and musician who found himself in Israel in the late 1960's, a moment when North American ba'al teshuva were coming to Israel in waves and creating a new Jewish music scene that mixed rock music and spirituality, Zionism and Torah.

Reb Yosil, far right with glasses and white yarlmuke, and Shlomo Carlebach, left with silver yarlmulke and guitar)

Reb Yosil moved to Israel in 1968 for "a four year summer." During that time he started composing music and met and played with Carlebach. Like Carlebach, Reb Yosil was interested in being able to use music as an emotional component of prayer. (And like everyone who knew Carlebach, he has some great Carlebach. Listen to the intro to Reb Yosil's Gam Ki Eilech for classic from the days of the Yom Kippor war.) At the same time he met and married his wife (whom he met at a Carlebach wedding) and opened a restaurant, and in 1971 started a band with Avraham Rosenblum called B'nai Tzion that included original material and popular Jewish song by The Rabbi's Sons and the Simchatones. B'nai Tzion played regularly on the stage in Reb Yosil's restaurant and at NCSY event. At that time he composed the songs Tzadik Katamar Yifrach and Pitchu Li, songs that went on to be hits for Rosenblum's next band, The Diaspora Yeshiva Band. Performed by DYB, Pitchu Li won Israel's 1976 Chassidic Song Festival. In 1978 DYB won again, this time with Reb Yosil's song Hu Yiftach Libeinu.

Reb Yosil (guitar, on right) Avraham Fried (standing and singing) and friends

But DYB won these songfests without Reb Yosil, who was never a member of the band. Yosil wanted to be a rabbi, not a full time musician. Prompted by that and the opportunity to work with the Canadian Zionist organization, Yosil and his wife had already moved back to Canada when Pitchu Li won the festival. Yosil spent the next 30 years as a pulpit rabbi and raising a family, using music in his rabbinic work and playing community concerts and kumzitz. After a recent bout with illness, Reb Yosil retired from the pulpit and started playing music regularly again, putting together the Kosher Gravy Company band and playing concerts around Ontario and Detroit.

It's pretty exciting for a Jewish music geek like myself to see someone writing and performing new material in the style that was popular in Jewish music the late 1960's / early 1970's at that birth of Jewish rock. Particularly, it's exciting to see that music from someone who was there at the time and contributed classic songs to the repertoire.

A lo-fi freak-folk Shabbat: Rob Markoff's "Sabbapath: To the Seventh Sunset"

Shabbat shalom everyone,

I'm getting a bit to close to shabbat for a long post, so just a quick pointer to a great new Shabbat album that just hit the streets. JDub just released, for free download, Rob Markoff's lo-fi rock album "Sabbapath: To the Seventh Sunset."

"Sabbapath, through Markoff’s vision, remixes and re-contextualizes the traditional Friday night service. It features spirited singing, droning voices, flutes, harmonium, strum stick, guitars and autoharp to create a singular, psychedelic, celebratory freak-folk album."

This one's a keeper, gang. Check out JDub for the full story and the download.

Diaspora Yeshiva Band "Live on Mt Zion"

As I've noted before, Avraham Rosenblum of the Diaspora Yeshiva Band is pretty much the Mick Jagger of Jewish music. DYB, with Rosenblum at the helm, formed in the mid 1970's as the ba'al teshuva movement in the US was bringing newly Orthodox Jews to Israel. DYB helped this generation find their voice and helped create and popularize Jewish themed rock among religious Jews in Israel and the US. If you see a Jewish musician pick up a guitar and sing in Hebrew, their touchstones may be Sholomo Carlebach or Debbie Friedman. If the guitar gets plugged in ... the touchstone is DYB.

DYB recently released "Live at Mt. Zion," a fantastic video that's part concert video and part documentary. It captures the band at their prime in 1982 playing a concert on the roof of King David’s Tomb on Mt. Zion, Jerusalem. This is our history, gang. And it sounds great.

Diaspora Live on Mt. Zion DVD Trailer

For more info and to get a copy of the Live at Mt. Zion, check out the DYB website.

By the way, former DYB member Rudy Harris wrote a nice article on the impact of DYB which includes his "geneology" of Jewish rock. Check it out.

Styles of Saturn...Israeli Music hits Miami

Styles of Saturn is a Miami area band that, according to guitar player Danny Edell, is "trying to make Israeli type of songs popular over here. With original songs like "Party's at Tel Aviv" and others we are trying to build up a jewish fanbase as much as we can." Check 'em out..I dig "Party's at Tel Aviv".



They're looking for gigs...if if you're booking, drop 'em a line.

Jewish Rock Radio

There's a new Jewish internet streaming radio station in town. Helmed by Rabbi Micah Greenstein, Ron Hoffman, and musician Rick Recht, Jewish Rock Radio is a slick and glossy website and iphone app that's now streaming slick and glossy Jewish rock music 24/7. To give you a sense of their playlist, in the last 20 minutes or so I've heard Orthodox rapper Eprhyme, and Orthodox college pop band Blue Fringe, Israeli world-beat rockers the Idan Rachel Project, singer-songwriter Todd Herzog, and Reform camp rock superstar Rick Recht (hey..it's his station, right?). It's is a really nice pop-radio mix with a liberal Jewish orientation but drawing some great frum-pop and secular Israeli pop. Good for them.

And yeah.. I said slick and glossy twice. I can't help it. I'm so not a slick and glossy guy. I like my pop indie and my rock punk. I want them to play The Shondes and Girls in Trouble. I dislike Rich Recht's music so much it makes my eyes cross. But that's my deal. I honestly hope and expect JRR to take off and finds it's audience.

Pioneers for a Cure: The Israel Sessions Volume 1

I'm sitting in San Diego, in a hotel overlooking the bay, listening for the dozenth time to Pioneers for a Cure: The Israel Sessions Volume 1. I'm a sucker for compilation discs. It's like getting a great radio show on one CD. In variably I fall for bands I'd never heard of and probably wouldn't have. Right now Uri Miles is crooning and playing pipes over a gentle rhythm that is both Matti Caspi lounge, Celtic drone and Mizrachi wailing at the same time. Odd but beautiful.

Pioneers for a cure is a charity compilation that trading up and coming musicians exposure for an opportunity to raise money for cancer research. The Israel Sessions is the second phase of the project. The first phase, produced by one of my favorite musicians Rabbi Greg Wall (of Hasidic New Wave and the Later Prophets) featured a wonderful cross section of contemporary Jewish music. This phase focuses on Israel music and other than an inclusion Greg Wall's Later Prophets is full of artists I don't know. Great fun and great music, gentle pop and driving rock, Israeli folk and art music. I think the Later Prophets and the Uri Miles tracks are my favorites, but there's not a dull track in the set.

Here's Greg Wall's Later Prophets Featuring Shai Bachar and Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, playing Sobu Tzion live in Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem, August 24, 2009. A studio version is part of the Israeli Sessions.



To get in on Pioneers, check out tracks yourself. Donate and download the tracks you like. Only the first 5 tracks of the collection are up on the site, but the rest are coming soon. And while you're there, check out the songs from the first phase. They're all still available and just as great. They include tracks by Teruah favorites David Broza, Y-Love, Stereo Sinai, Sway Machinery, and Adrienne Cooper, just to name a few.

Here's a short video article on Pioneers for a Cure. It was made at the time of the first set of songs, not the current set, but it will give you the right idea.

Jewish Music Fest Shoutouts, Chicago, SF, Toronto, Atlanta, Washington DC

My own adventures with the Detroit JCC Stephen Gottlieb Jewish Music fest aside, there are a number of Jewish music fests going on this summer that are worth pointing out. This is just a quick list, not an exhaustive one. If I'd don't mention one in the area you live in, check my left-side panel for a larger list of annual fests. If you're in Europe..check Ruth Ellen Gruber's extensive list of European Jewish Music Festivals.


Chicago Jewish Festival. Next Sunday, June 13, is the Chicago Jewish Festival. It runs from from 11 to 5ish, with 4 concurrent stages as well as food, art, and local organizations. I think the music is free, but am not sure. And I get to go! If you see me say howdy! I'll be live tweeting the show. This year artists will include my buddies StereoSinai as well as

"Tzioni ‘R' Us/Weiner Experience, Moshe Skier Band, The Ruby Harris Band, David Broza, Kol Sasson, Rabbi Joe Black, Listen Up! A Capella, Community Sing, David Broza, Jazmer, Barbara Silverman, Lafayette Klezmorim, Tarkay, Tracy Friend, Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, Guy Mendilow, Shakshuka, Saul Kaye, Cantor Jeff Klepper, Tumbalalaika, Guy Mendilow, Kol Tikva, Lynn Hazan, Caryn Bark, Shining Lights, Jeff and Janis, Anna and Catherine Kazyansky, Mamaloshn Yiddush Song Group, Ed Holstein, Marilyn Price, Steve Justman, Shelechet Aviv Israeli Dance Troupe, Ballet Entre Nous, Aaron Freeman, Jessica Honor Carleton, Solomon Schecter Choir, Junior Klezmer Band, Guy Mendilow Band, Judy & David, Jessica Honor Carleton, Joel Frankel, Judy & David, Marilyn Price, Jewish Jammers, and Comedy Ventriloquist Chuck Field."

And rumor has it that Patrick A of Can Can and Punk Torah will be in town for festival as well, though not performing.

Whew. Looking at a list like this is humbling. As much as I think I know the list touring Jewish musicians, looking at the line of summer Jewish music fests makes me realize how much more action there is out there than I can track. Great fun.

San Francisco Jewish Music Festival. July 11. This year is the SF Music Fests 25th year. They had a big showcase in March and will be having another one in July.

"Artists include Eprhyme, Glenn Hartman and the Klezmer Playboys, Peter Jacques, Elana Jagoda, Kugelplex, Ira Levin, Joe Nguyen, Kat Parra, Red Hot Chachkas, Dror Sinai, Gerry Tenney and California Klezmer, Vocolot and Joshua Walters. Plus klezmer, maqamat (Middle Eastern modes) and Middle East percussion jam/ workshops, an Instant Chorus, and an Instrument Petting Zoo, in association with the Community Music Center and Zambaleta World Music Institute."

Ashkenaz Music Festival, Toronto. From Aug 31 to Sept 6. Headliner shows require $ tickets, but everything else is free. And considering most of the "everything else" would headliners at other festivals, this is amazing. I would love to go but don't think I'll be able to afford it. Anyone feel like sponsoring an itinerant blogger? No? Oh well. Maybe in two years.

"Abraham Inc., Adrienne Cooper & Marilyn Lerner, Andy Statman, Batsheva, Beyond the Pale, Canadian Cabaret hosted by SoCalled (including helly Posen, Brian Katz and Lenka Lichtenberg, Lache Cercel, Aviva Chernick, the Yiddish Swingtet, Mike Ankielwicz), Daddo, Daniel Kahn, Deep Minor, Di Fidl Kapelye, Flory Jagoda, Gypsophilia, Jaffa Road, Klezmer Kids, Konsonans Retro, Kosher Gospel w/ Joshua Nelson, David Wall, and Ken Whiteley, Kurt & Annette Bjorling with Di Fidl Kapelye, Lache Cercel and the Roma Swing, Marilyn Lerner, Mitch Smolkin, Nayekhovichi, Nayekhovichi, Sephardic Cabaret hosted by Aaron Bensoussan, Shtreiml, Sisters of Sheynville, The Flying Bulgars, The Huppah Project, The Klez Dispensers, The Lithuanian Empire, Theresa Tova, Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, Vira Lozinsky, Zully Goldfarb."

Atlanta Jewish Music Festival. Ok, it was last night and I missed it. But I wanted to give a shout out to one of the new Jewish music fests. First of all I love seeing some Jewish action down South. There's been a solid Jewish population down there for a long long time, but it doesn't get the attention that Jewish in northern east and west coast cities get. Secondly, the line up for their fest was pretty interesting. Yesterday's show included the Moshav Band, DeLeon, Girls in Trouble, and 4th Ward Afro-Klemzer Orchestra. What's interesting about this is that it was much more of a rock / pop concert than your typical fest. Most fests lean toward Jewish flavored folk / world music. As more Jewish rock, pop, and hip-hop bands are getting formed, I wonder how long it will be until more fests have stages like Atlanta's.

Washington DC Jewish Music Fest. It kicks off tonight and runs until June 13, with....
Screening of The Jazz Baroness, Danny Sanderson, Seth Rudetsky’s Deconstructing Broadway, Galeet Dardashti, Uri Gurvich Quartet, Saints & Tzadiks (Susan McKeown & Lorin Sklamberg), Golem with Girls In Trouble, The Macaroons Children's Concert, and Vagabond Opera.

Jewish Hipsters: Even more possible musicians for Detroit's JCC Stephen Gottlieb Music Fest

They're young, hip, and Jewish and are making noise. Here is a list of some cool Jewish musicians that I passed along to the JCC Stephen Gottlieb Music Fest committee. These folks play rock clubs as well as Jewish events and do it with style, with their Jewish identity a significant portion of their stage identity. For more of an explanation see my earlier post about Yiddish singers. As always, this is just a intro list..there's lots more out there.

Jeremiah Lockwood & Sway Machinery
Grandson of a cantor and a passionate delta blues guitarist, Lockwood
fuses the two into an amazing mix. Imagine if the Blues Brothers went
to Yeshiva instead of Catholic School.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLVQjV7wlQQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hfVIGwwtb8&feature=related
http://www.swaymachinery.com/

Girls in Trouble
Alicia Jo Rabins folk-pop band, singing in English about the stories
of women in the Torah. Personal favorite of mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r16i1lXk098
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q7p2hiCl7A
http://www.myspace.com/girlsintroublemusic

Y-Love
Amazingly good Orthodox hip-hop rapper. Raps in English, Yiddish, Hebrew, and Aramaic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsBd52_6iB0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqtpuVowuX
http://www.myspace.com/ylove

StereoSinai
Yummy "Bible-gum" pop band from Chicago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8qD3F7ybCo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX7OHf-8nrY
http://www.g-dcast.com/lech-lecha
http://stereosinai.blogspot.com/

David Griffin's Hebrew School
Wonderful guitar pop band that channels 1960's and 70's pop music
http://www.myspace.com/hebrewschool
http://www.youtube.com/user/hebrewschoolmusic#p/u/5/L0py5axAgto

Shir Yaakov, Eprhyme & Darshan
Shir Yaakov's a soulful singer who performs solo and teams up with
hip-hop rapper Eprhyme in the band Darshon.
Shir Yaakov: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g5EzbMsCnU
Eprhyme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1C8TUFXa4A
Darshan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Vaom7l-I8

The Shondes
Riot-grrl punk band with lyrics centering on Jewish and queer identity politics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ZINwloL6Q
http://www.shondes.com/

Good for the Jews & The Leevees
"The best band in the world since last Tuesday" Hilarious comedy musical duo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT1MeiqBbLc
http://www.goodforthejews.net

In that video the duo is backed by the band, The Leevees, a funny
Jewish rock band.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMXqNllqEoU
http://www.theleevees.com

Rav Shmuel
Hassidic folk-rock singer-songwriter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiV_PI1-zLU
http://www.ravshmuel.com/

The Wailing Wall.
Swirly Bob Dylan-esque folk rock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irD0imPfN6Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKqxZHw9T_E

The Geneology of Jewish Rock

The Diaspora Yeshiva Band is one of the legendary bands of the Jewish music scene. Founded in the early 1970's by Avraham Rosenblum and Ruby Harris, it was, arguably, the first Jewish rock band. This afternoon, while looking for something else, I ran across an article by Ruby Harris about DYB.

"Almost parallel to the first Rock’n Roll stars and their society, the union of Rock with Jews didn’t come so smoothly, it was a rocky road at first, particularly in the years roughly from 1973-1982. Jewish music didn’t catch up with the rest of the world so fast. I remember one time we were doing a concert at the Jerusalem Theater and after the show someone comes up to us and emotionally expressed his disapproval of the Holy words being fused with rock sounds (Elvis and Ray Charles got the same reaction)."

In addition to his version of the history of DYB (which is a bit different than Roensblum's version) it includes this fantastic "Genealogy of Jewish Rock."


It's a bit idosyncratic, but hey...it's good fun none-the-less. I haven't been able to find a video of DYB playing, and Ruby Harris's videos focus on his other music interests. But here's Avraham Rosenblum, father of Jewish rock, in action.

Avraham Rosenblum. Tzadik

Demonic Anarchy. For Children. A Tribute to Barry Polisar.

Somehow I missed out on Barry Louis Polisar when I was a kid. Which, I think, explains certain mental imbalances in me as an adult. Polisar has been entertaining children for three decades with albums titled "I Eat Kids," "My Brother Thinks He's a Banana," "Naughty Songs for Boys and Girls," and the wonderfully misnamed "Songs for Well Behaved Children." It was this last album that earned him a letter that read "This is demonic anarchy and I've added you to the top of my prayer list." Which, of course, means that Polisar and the listener both truly understand childhood..which is mostly demonic anarchy, punctuated by times tables and naps.

Polisar wrote to me recently about a tribute album that was just released, called "We're Not Kidding: A Tribute to Barry Polisar." The album is the result of his song "All I Want Is You" appearing, 30 years after it's first release, in the open title sequence for the hit movie Juno. This got Polisar a lot of media attention and reconnected him with a generation of fans who's grown up on his albums. It turned out that his fans started a LOT of bands, who came together to record 60 covers of his songs for the 2-disk album.

It also turns out that a lot of his fans are Jewish, as is Polisar who's also written his own Haggadah. (Which, it turns out, I happen to own). The result is that there are an entertaining number of Jewish-music influenced recordings on the tribute album. A quick scan turned up:

• Sephardic indie-rockers, DeLeon, covering "My Brother Thinks He's a Banana" and "My Name is Hiram Lipshlitz.
• Deborah Berman and the Nogoodniks, performing "Shtek Nit Dayn Finger in Der Noz," their own Yiddish translation of Polisar's "Don't Put Your Finger Up Your Nose."
• Kid Kazooey and His One-Man Klezmorkestra Band, performing "I've Got a Teacher, She's So Mean and He Eats Asparagus, Why Can't You Be That Way?"
• The Brothers (Boaz and Moshe) Vilozny performing a When the House is Dark and Quiet. "

That a whole lot of other great bands doing spirited renditions. If updated, rollicking, versions of some wonderful and seriously demented kids songs are your thing...definitely check out the tribute album. You can hear clips of most of the tracks on the website. And while you're at it, check out Barry Louis Polisar's original albums and stories. Like a fine whine, they've aged very well.

For the record, I recently introduced my (happily demonic) 5 year old daughter to his song "I Used to Have A Sister." She's been wandering around the house all weekend singing it to herself and imagining her elder sister turned into an apple tree. Yeah. He gets kids.

For a final treat, here's a truly awesome video. It's about a minute of Polisar making his first TV appearance, on the "Bozo The Clown's Wide World of Wonder" show in 1975, singing "He Eats Asparagus, Why Can't You Be That Way?." According to Polisar, his "little sister was watching TV with her friends when he came on singing. They all got very excited and said, "Emily, isn't that your brother on TV?" She said, "No."

Barry Louis Polisar in his first TV appearance: Bozo the Clown, 1975